Wednesday, August 28, 2013

I liked the looks of this recipe, it sounded so creamy and good and since the ingredients are cooked in advance, all you have to do is heat it in your dutch oven until the cheese has melted and the sauce is bubbling. The cream cheese and mayo add to the richness, if you're watching the calories you can certainly use low fat versions of both with chicken sausage. Oil your dutch oven well, to protect it from the acid in the tomato sauce as well as preventing the 'sandwiches' from sticking. In my 12 inch dutch oven, they baked for 30 minutes with 12 coals in a ring around the bottom, 16 in a ring around the outside of the lid and 10 spaced evenly in the center. Remember this casserole the next time you're feeding a group of hungry teenagers, it's kid friendly, easy and filling too.

Lightly oil or spray 12 inch or larger dutch oven.
In medium bowl, mix cream cheese, mayonnaise, basil and oregano until well combined.
Spread bread slices generously with cream cheese mixture and place in a single layer in prepared oven.
Combine sauce, garlic and sausage in medium bowl.
Spoon over bread slices, top with Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until sauce is bubbling and cheese has melted.
Makes 6-8 servings.

Friday, August 23, 2013

What I like about this recipe from Pillsbury is that it is actually better to assemble the casserole before lighting your coals, the extra sit time will allow the egg mixture to soak into the uncooked dough. Also, to save time, snip the cinnamon rolls into small pieces using a pair of kitchen shears. In my 12 inch dutch oven, it baked for exactly 25 minutes with 12 coals in a ring around the base of the oven, 18 placed around the edge of the outside lid and 8-10 briquettes spaced evenly in the center. You'll know it's done when the overpowering scent of cinnamon is wafting from your oven. My sister is visiting and was pleasantly awakened by the aroma of cinnamon maple french toast coming through the guest room window. Once it has puffed, is golden brown and firm to the touch in the center, remove it from the coals. It will fall as it cools, drizzle it with icing, sprinkle it with powdered sugar and top it off with more maple syrup for an unbelievably sweet and delicious dutch oven breakfast.

Monday, August 19, 2013

This recipe for Bacon Buffalo Mac and Cheese from Mr. Food is not for the faint of heart, the cup of wing sauce adds a powerful punch. The original recipe suggests mixing the sauce, dressing and cream cheese in your food processor but if the cream cheese is softened to room temperature and cut into small pieces you can easily combine it with a whisk. If you like a little crunch use a fresh bell pepper, for convenience as well as the smokey flavor, I substituted jarred roasted red peppers. In my 10 inch dutch oven this baked for 30 minutes with 10 coals in a ring around the bottom, 15 briquettes in a ring around the outside of the lid and 4 spaced evenly in the center. If you like it a bit on the milder side cut back on the sauce and add a bit more dressing, this might also be good with blue cheese dressing in place of the ranch. It's creamy, cheesy, made for Buffalo wing lovers and will definitely wake up your taste buds.

Lightly oil or spray dutch oven.
Cook pasta until al dente, then drain.
If making pasta ahead of time, toss with a little olive oil before storing in zip lock bag or container.
In large bowl, mix cream cheese, garlic, wing sauce and ranch dressing, there may be a few small lumps.
Add cooked pasta, shredded cheese, roasted red pepper and crumbled bacon.
Toss until well combined.
Spread in prepared dutch oven.
Sprinkle with panko bread crumbs.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
Makes 4-6 servings.

Sprinkle pasta mixture with panko crumbs

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbling and lightly brown

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Sitting around a crackling campfire under a starry sky is one of the greatest joys of camping. When I saw this cleverly decorated Campfire Cake online I could hardly wait to make it, although not entirely made in your dutch oven, you can easily make the candy flames at home, package them carefully in a container and transport them to your outdoor destination.
Hershey's brings us another simple to make from scratch, rich, dark, chocolate cake recipe. The only extra step involved is boiling the water. It does make a very thin batter so be sure to have your dutch oven on even ground, otherwise you'll end up with a lopsided cake. In my 12 inch dutch oven, the cake baked for exactly 35 minutes with 12 coals in a ring around the bottom, 18 in a ring around the outside of the lid with 7-8 placed evenly in the center. Use a cake tester to make sure it's completely baked all the way through before removing from the coals and allow it to cool completely before lifting from the oven. For convenience I used two cans of store bought frosting but have included the frosting recipe if you'd prefer to make it from scratch.
Use a packaged mix if you like or place candles between the flames for a real showstopping birthday cake. This cake is so much fun to make and a real treat for all your favorite scouts, campers and lovers of the outdoors.

Monday, August 12, 2013

If you're searching for an easy, one bowl, kid-friendly, camping casserole, this recipe is for you. Although it looked tasty, I didn't have high expectations for this simple dish, however, everyone ended up going back for seconds and it was surprisingly good. In my 12 inch dutch oven it baked for a total of 35 minutes with 12 coals in a ring around the bottom, 18 around the edge of the lid with 8 placed loosely in the center. After 30 minutes it was bubbling and ready for the final topping of cheese. It's creamy, cheesy, crunchy and a good campfire dutch oven dinner.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

These Blueberry Buttermilk Scones from Martha Stewart could float right out of your oven. The addition of cake flour and the extra baking powder make them especially light and tender. If you don't have cake flour on hand go ahead and use two full cups of the all-purpose variety. The batter is wet enough to drop by spoonfuls into your dutch oven if you don't feel like patting out the dough and cutting it into wedges. The scones baked for 20 minutes in my 10 inch dutch oven with 10 coals in a ring around the bottom and 26 briquettes on the lid. Like biscuits, you need cold butter and a hot oven to help them rise. While blueberries are in season, give these beauties a try and if you need to use frozen blueberries, add them right from the freezer into the dough.

Lightly oil or spray dutch oven.
In large bowl, whisk together flours, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt.
Cut in butter with a pastry cutter, or rub in with your fingers, until mixture has the texture of coarse meal.
Stir in blueberries.
Whisk together buttermilk, 1 egg and vanilla.
Add wet ingredients to flour mixture, stir lightly with a fork until dough comes together.
Turn out dough on work surface and gently knead once or twice.
Pat dough into a 9 inch circle, cut into 8 wedges.
Carefully place wedges in prepared dutch oven.
Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with fine sugar.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
Cool for 15 minutes before removing from dutch oven.

Pat dough into a circle and cut into 8 wedges or drop
by large spoonfuls into prepared oven

Monday, August 5, 2013

The internet can be a cook's best friend. The other day I picked up a family sized can of potato sticks on the damaged goods shelf for ninety nine cents. Hmmmm, now what to do with this other than eating the whole can in front of the t.v. in one sitting. Thanks to the mysterious powers of Google and The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board I found this recipe for Shoestring Potato Quiche.
Basically a crustless quiche, you can mix it in one bowl, pour it into your dutch oven and in 25 minutes have a very tasty, any time of the day, filling meal. Of course, kids will love this one, as it bakes the potato sticks taste like you added hash browns and you don't have to worry about thawing them at your campsite. My basic formula for a quiche, which has never failed me, is to add 1 cup of cream to six beaten eggs. Next time I will definitely make this with 6 eggs instead of 4 and cook it a few minutes longer. In my 10 inch dutch oven it baked for 20 minutes with 10 coals in a ring around the bottom, 15 in a ring around the edge of the lid and 6 briquettes spaced evenly in the center. Crunchy, cheesy and simple to make, add some chopped, cooked bacon and you've got a camping quiche everyone will love.

Friday, August 2, 2013

There is nothing better than a warm cobbler or crumble made with fresh summer fruit scooped from your dutch oven and topped with a good vanilla ice cream. It's one of life's simple pleasures and this excellent recipe from a Sept. 21, 2005 issue of the New York Times combines fresh plums with candied ginger under a buttery topping. You pour melted butter over the topping before baking so there's no need to pack a pastry blender. The crumble baked for 30 minutes in my 10 inch dutch oven with 10 coals in a ring around the bottom, 15 coals around the outside edge of the lid and 5 spaced evenly in the center. Let it cool a bit before serving and be sure to add the crystallized ginger, it really adds a wonderful flavor to the plum filling.